Don't Reopen the ‘Demon Gate' Debate in Japan
Japan is facing a changing world of tariffs, artificial intelligence, and a potentially existential threat to its number-one export. Yet its approaching election seems set to be dominated by a rehash of a decades-old debate.
Consumption tax, first introduced in 1989 and raised over the years to its current maximum rate of 10% 1, is shaping up to be the major theme of July's upper house election — a poll that will determine the fate of embattled Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and his minority government.
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